EAST LANSING, Mich. - The women's swimming and diving team returned to McCaffree Pool at IM West on Friday evening as they hosted Big Ten foe Illinois. The Spartan's split the meet with the Fighting Illini, winning half of the 16 competitions, including both diving events. But, the teams were tied going into the final medley relay and Illinois hit the wall first, narrowly edging out the Spartans in a 154.5-145.5 victory.

Freshman Becca Berman opened up the meet with the Spartan's first victory in the 1000-yard free, clocking in a personal best and time top for the team at 10:17.42. Also in the 1000 free, sophomore Whitney Woodbridge finished 3rd in 10:27.62.

In the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, senior Kerry Sodonis captured both individual titles, clocking in with season bests at 1:04.93 and 2:21.03, respectively.

After capturing first-place honors last weekend in Iowa, junior Jenny Rusch continued her win streak with a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, in a time of 23.92. Rusch also saw success in the 100-yard free, taking the title in 52.38 seconds.

In the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Jessica Wellick finished in second place just behind the leader in a time of 2:07.28.

Senior Samantha Hilk and junior Rachel Wilson went two-three in the 200-yard backstroke. Hilk took second in a time of 2:07.15 and Wilson followed just behind in 2:07.51.

Rounding out the top individual swim performances was junior Alex Pierce with a first-place finish in the 200 IM in a time of 2:07.37. Freshman Hannah Pugh and junior Sarah Falconer also placed, taking third and fourth in the event.

The Spartan's continued to dominate on the diving boards as the three seniors captured the top three honors in both events. Jordan Jackson finished first in the three-meter dive with an overall score of 374.78. Sarah Clay and Ashley Borgman followed suit in second and third tallying scores of 336.60 and 315.38.

On the one-meter board, Jackson and Clay switched roles, with Clay taking first with a dominant score of 338.99. Jackson took second with 291.60 points and Borgman finished in a close third with 287.32 points.

After posting top scores in both diving competitions, all three divers, Clay, Jackson and Borgman, have made the NCAA regulation qualifying scores.

On the relay side, MSU took second place in the 200 medley with the quartet of, freshman Shelby Lacy, Pierce, Wellick, and Rusch.

Going into the final event for the evening both teams were tied. But in the 400-free relay Illinois hit the wall first and the team of Rusch, sophomore Lauren Daugherty, senior Laura Leslie and sophomore Sarah Strickler finished second in a time of 3:32.14. The Fighting Illini's final relay first-place finish gave them enough to narrowly beat out the Spartan's 154.5-145.5.

The mens and womens teams return to action this Friday, Nov. 11 when they head to Jenison, Mich., to take on Grand Valley State at Jenison High School at 6 p.m.